Mine Museum (Pernik)

 interesting place, 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria, show mine

The town of Pernik is also known as the Town of Black Gold. The development of Pernik is closely related to mining. In 1891 the Mining Law was adopted and the first mine of the Pernik State Mine in the locality of Kulata was established. The first mine buildings were constructed around it. Gradually the center of the locality was moved from the residential section of Varosha around the new mining settlement. In 1986, in Pernik was established the Museum of Mining. The idea of its establishing occurred after miners from Pernik visited the Museum of rock-salt extraction in the town of Velichka, Poland, and the St. Petersburg Museum of Mining.
The Museum of Mining in Pernik Town is not housed in a building, but it is part if an underground gallery. The first dig in the mine, in which the museum is housed, was performed in 1891. It was effective until 1966 when its deposits were exhausted and it was closed, and after about 20 years it was turned into a museum.
The Museum of Mining is the only one of its kind on the Balkan Peninsula. There are similar museums only in Belgium, Germany, Poland and Russia.
One of the attractions for the visitors is the helmets which had to be put on before entering the museum. Actually, there is no danger for the visitors in the tunnel. The galleries of the old mine are 630 meters long and about 30 expositions are placed in them, which follow the development of mining in Bulgaria.
In the beginning, the visitors pass through a tunnel reinforced by wooden supports – as it was in the past. Various types of equipment for reinforcement and lightning can be seen along the entire length of the galleries. An exposition of transportation equipment is also presented – various types of locomotives and passenger trolleys, most of which are authentic and show the progress of the mining industry after 1896.
Site number 39a of the National Movement Discover Bulgaria - 100 national tourist sites of the Bulgarian Tourist Union - Underground Mining Museum.

ilovebulgaria.eu/en/pernik-museum-of-mining/
visitbulgaria.com/museum-of-mining-town-of-pernik/
www.showcaves.com/english/bg/mines/Pernik.html
www.hotelmap.bg/pernik-attraction-museum-of-mining.html